


to christmases yet to come

by sugdensquad



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 01:09:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9049228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugdensquad/pseuds/sugdensquad
Summary: Aaron and Robert share a quiet moment after coming home from Wishing Well and think about what their next Christmas together will look like.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ScrapyardBoyfriends](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScrapyardBoyfriends/gifts).



> Thought I'd post my Secret Santa gift onto here as well so I can spread the festive cheer even further! Hope you're all having a wonderful day, whether you celebrate Christmas or not <3

A hush has descended across the village, almost as if the night sky is holding its breath. A white, soft dappling of snow blankets the street, melting underfoot as Robert, Aaron and Liv head up towards the pub. Liv’s cheeks are flushed from the cold, eyelids drooping already, and Aaron smiles at her before leaning in a little closer to Robert whose arm is tight around his shoulder.

The Woolpack is silent as they slip inside, Charity and Chas having stayed up at Wishing Well to deal with the latest Dingle drama. Robert had offered to take Liv home himself if Aaron wanted to stay, but Aaron had just shook his head, brushing his hand against Robert’s before telling Lisa they were heading off.

They switch on a few lamps in the backroom, Liv slumping onto the sofa where she immediately curls up in a ball, arms wrapped around herself, the sleeves of her Christmas jumper hanging over her fingers. Aaron reaches across and gently strokes the top of her head and she sighs, burying her face further into the cushion. 

“We shouldn’t let her fall asleep or she’ll end up staying down here all night,” Robert whispers, looking almost concerned. Aaron just smiles, can’t help but feel the warmth radiating through him. It’s Christmas, he has his little sister, and he has Robert. He’s going to _marry_ Robert. 

“If you fancy waking her then be my guest. You know what she’s like when she’s not allowed to sleep,” he replies, grinning now as Robert frowns, a little nervous, before he crouches down by the sofa.

“Liv?” he murmurs, gently shaking her shoulder. She groans in response, turning her back to him, and Aaron silences a laugh.

“Nothing for it, then,” he hears Robert say under his breath and watches, incredulous, as he slips one arm around Liv’s waist and the other under her knees, lifting her as easily as if she weighed little more than a bag of flour. 

Even more surprisingly, Liv barely stirs against him, just buries her nose into his shoulder and keeps breathing deeply. Aaron gives Robert a soft, thankful smile and watches him take her upstairs, wondering when they got here, to this exact point. Wondering when they suddenly became a family.

Robert comes back down a few moments later, the stairs creaking under his weight, before he appears in the doorway looking just as tired as Liv. He smiles though when he catches Aaron’s eye, easy and warm and genuine, and Aaron just gravitates towards him. Robert opens his arms for him, welcoming the soft press of Aaron’s body against his own, before he envelops him in a warm embrace.

“Today was good, wasn’t it?” he murmurs into Aaron’s ear, the two of them swaying slightly in the doorway. 

“Yeah, really good,” Aaron answers, kissing the side of Robert’s neck and nuzzling his nose a little into the warm skin at the back of his ear. “Were you all right… with my lot, I mean?”

Robert leans back a little, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “Did you think they’d eat me alive?” he asks, and Aaron snorts.

“Maybe. You can never tell with them, and it’s not like you’ve been around them that much.”

Robert nods, his thumb rubbing circles into the small of Aaron’s back. “I was fine. _They_ were fine. Lisa even said she was glad I came; seems to think I make you happy or something.”

Aaron fights down a smile, his cheeks faintly hot, and then shakes his head. “Yeah, or something,” he replies quietly, but Robert just laughs, light and breathy, before pressing a kiss to Aaron’s forehead.

“It’s a good job I’m not one for flowers and chocolates… I’d be waiting decades otherwise.”

Aaron wrinkles his nose. “You don’t want flowers, do you?”

Robert just shakes his head, his eyes creasing at the sides as he smiles, and places a warm hand against Aaron’s cheek. “No, pretty sure I can make do with what I’ve already got.”

It makes his chest tighten, not just the words or the meaning behind them, but the look on Robert’s face when he says it. His pale eyes are open and sincere, fair lashes barely blinking as he stares down at Aaron, wanting to be understood. Aaron does. He always will.

“That all you need, is it? What you’ve got already?” he asks, just a tinge of doubt to the words. He can’t help himself, even now it niggles at him, this idea that he’s not enough. But Robert’s hand pressing into the small of his back, pulling him forwards, is enough of a reassurance even before he speaks.

“Don’t see what else I could possibly want,” he whispers, his thumbs gently rubbing against Aaron’s sides. “I’ve got my family… well, most of them. I’ve got a job I’m good at, and I haven’t brained Nicola yet so that’s always a bonus.” He pauses, the two of them laughing quietly, before Robert’s smile drops a little, his expression serious. “And I’ve got you. You and Liv.”

He’s not used to it even though he probably should be. He’s never had someone so willing to love him before, so eager to tell him as if it were Robert’s life mission to make Aaron believe it. And although he struggles now and then, doubts and worries and stumbles, Robert’s right there to catch him every time. Aaron will never have words enough to say how grateful he is to him for that.

“And mince pies,” he adds instead because he’s never been very good with emotion and especially not when he can feel his eyes stinging. Robert laughs though, a sound Aaron has come to adore, wants to tease out as often as he can just to see the smile on Robert’s face.

“Which my loving fiancé gets me whenever I ask for them,” he replies, giving Aaron a wink that has him rolling his eyes.

“Not sure about loving, think I’m just daft for giving in to you every time.”

Robert hums his disagreement, pulls Aaron even closer. “I’d say you’re pretty loving,” he murmurs against Aaron’s temple, warm breath tickling his hairline. Aaron wriggles free a little, but not too far. Never too far.

“Must be the time of year,” he argues even though he’s smiling up at Robert, just as Robert gazes down at him. “Peace and good will…”

“I love you.”

Robert says it quickly, like he’s been dying to for a while and got impatient. He says it like that a lot, usually when they’re finally alone after a day surrounded by other people. Aaron relishes the almost desperate edge to Robert’s voice when he sounds out the words, just as he treasures the times when it’s spoken softly, slowly, every syllable deliberately drawn out so Robert’s sure Aaron’s heard it clearly. He never says it the same twice, always manages to make it sound new each time, and the warm shiver it sends through him is unlike anything he’s ever felt before.

“I love you, too,” he answers, the words heavy with emotion, and Aaron tells himself not to be swept away by it. Today’s been good, so good, and he won’t spoil it now by crying.

“Think this is the happiest Christmas I’ve ever had, you know,” Robert remarks after a few seconds just staring, slightly dumbfounded. “Or at least since I was a boy.”

Aaron thinks about that. About where they were last year, Robert still recovering from being shot, Aaron wishing he was anywhere but in Emmerdale, wishing he didn’t even exist. They had been so alone back then, so desperate for each other without knowing. And even though it was impossible, even though it should never have happened, they had still managed to find a way back to each other. 

 _We always will_ , he thinks and smiles, the safety of those words cradling him.

“Still think we can top it next year,” he says softly, his mind turning towards the future, something he’d never wanted to do before now, before Robert and Liv.

Robert quirks an eyebrow, curious. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. We’ll be married by next year, won’t we? And we'll have moved into the Mill as well - it'll be big enough to have a proper tree in the living-room, one that reaches the ceiling, and we'll get it kitted out in tinsel and lights.”

Robert nods, eyes shining with amusement, and rubs his nose against Aaron’s. “That sounds nice.”

“And we’ll have our own stockings and there’ll be presents piled high and you’ll make Christmas dinner-”

“With your help.”

Aaron laughs, stretching up to wrap his arms around Robert’s neck. “With my help,” he agrees. “And we’ll watch all those old Christmas movies together and then fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon.”

He can see it so clearly, the three of them squeezed in tight on their new sofa, Liv complaining about watching something in black and white while hogging all the Quality Streets, Robert silently gazing at the screen, his eyes lighting up like a child’s, and Aaron smiling at the pair of them before grabbing a handful of sweets when Liv isn’t looking. 

“Sounds perfect,” Robert says and Aaron nods, having been thinking the same.

“Yeah, it does,” he replies, intending to say more only to stop short when he sees what’s pinned to the doorframe. “You haven’t realised, have you?” he asks, wanting to laugh as he watches Robert’s smile turn into a confused frown.

“What?”

Aaron doesn’t reply, just slides his gaze upwards to where a small cluster of mistletoe is dangling down above their heads. Robert snorts softly, his arms encircling Aaron tighter, and looks down at him.

“And you call me an old romantic,” he comments, smirking in that infuriating way of his that has Aaron’s knees almost giving out.

“Pretty sure I call you a soppy git-”

The soft press of Robert’s lips against his own stops him from getting any further, but he doesn’t mind. Instead he breathes out deeply, his back arching just a little as Robert moulds them together, dragging his tongue along Aaron’s bottom lip. He opens his mouth instinctively, inviting Robert in, and then they’re melting, sighing, pulling and pushing just to get an inch or two closer. Aaron’s fingers bury themselves in the thick strands at Robert’s crown while Robert’s hand finds its way up and under Aaron’s Christmas jumper, skimming across his spine, his shoulder blades, before resting just above his hip. They kiss until their breathless, mouths crimson, neither one of them wanting to let go. And they’re smiling, aching with happiness in a way they’ve never known before, and certainly would never have had without the other.

“Merry Christmas,” Robert says, still panting, his chest rising and falling quickly. Aaron places a chaste kiss against his lips, unable to stop himself, and grins.

“Merry Christmas,” he replies and tangles his fingers with Robert’s before gently tugging him towards the stairs. They won’t be needing mistletoe for what comes next…


End file.
